Intro

Today, firewalls are an essential part of almost every IT infrastructure and are being deployed in a myriad of shapes and forms. They usually focus on layers 3 and 4 of the OSI Model (occasionally layer 2). Next-generation Firewalls (NGFW) can also cover layers 5, 6, and 7. With more layers covered, we gain more control, but also spend more computing power.

Intro

In this article we will look further into some of the options that Nmap offers. Since we have looked into the Null, Xmas, and FIN scans, we will continue down this path of port scanning techniques, and for this article we will focus on ACK Scan (-sA),  Window Scan (-sW), and Maimon Scan (-sM). 

Intro

If you’re familiar with Nmap, you are probably aware of the myriad of options it has to offer. I have opted to use example scans for our purposes in hopes of being able to more easily demonstrate some of those options. 

What is Nmap?

Nmap is one of the most popular free network scanning tools available on the market today. For many years, the software has become a core program for network administrators and IT professionals who want to map out their network and conduct a wide range of network inventories. It also allows the user to find live hosts on their network systems and scan for open ports and operating systems. 

Nmap is a network scanning tool that can scan large networks as well as single hosts quickly. Network administrators normally use it to identify the devices that are currently running on the system, the port number on which the devices are connected and the free ports that can be used.

Network Mapper (Nmap) is an open-source Linux command-line tool for network exploration and security auditing. With Nmap, server administrators can reveal services and hosts quickly, scan for open ports and search for security issues. The Nmap tool can assess and discover local and remote open ports as well as network information and hosts.

The most common issue with Internet systems is that they are too complex for the ordinary person to understand. Also, a small home-based system may be complex for some people. Consequently, when it comes to bigger agencies and large organizations that deal with lots of computers on the network, the complexity will increase.

Therefore, to learn which ports are open and the rules of engagement, a program called Nmap can be used. It’s a network scanning tool available for IT administrators, network administrators, systems administrators and other IT professionals. 

Nmap is one of the most used tools for network scanning. Its ease of use and effective installation with exceptional scanning options makes it popular in the IT industry. This article will give you a comprehensive understanding of the tool and let IT professionals, IT administrators and network administrators scan networks with ease to discover vulnerabilities.